We'll Be A Dream
by ladypirate12
Summary: Song-fic to We The Kings & Demi Lovato's "We'll Be A Dream"


To Dom and Mal Cobb, dreams weren't always just an escape from reality. Sometimes, the dream would overtake the reality. For Mal Cobb, the dream pushed her too far. The line between dreams and reality wasn't just blurred, it was snapped, broken, gone from her mind. Their dream, her dream, and the feeling of power, of complete control, overtook her, and there was nothing her husband could do, not even once they got back from the Limbo in their minds.

Dom remembered her world with perfect clarity. The buildings they formed from the ground up in seconds, the places that housed their memories of a lifetime away from the truth. It was anything and everything they wanted it to be. They were so in love, both with each other and their perfect world. They would stay up for hours, walking on the beach, just talking and laughing and smiling, not having to worry about anything except for being together. They grew old together in this enchanting paradise. It was a flawless fantasy, but even so, Dom knew that soon they'd have to wake up. He knew, although in the far recesses of his mind, that the heaven they had created was only a dream. Mal, however, had either forgotten or didn't want to remember that her new reality wasn't real at all. He had tried talking to her, convincing her that they needed to get back. Back to their children, to their home, to their lives, but Mal never listened, unwaveringly certain that the only children, home, or life that they needed was right with them where they were, so Dom Cobb got desperate. He didn't want, but he had no other choice. He crept into her mind, and planted an idea. Just one tiny, seemingly harmless idea to help them get back where they belonged. He didn't expect it to grow, or to stay fixed in her mind when they got back, but it did. Mal had changed and it was only too apparent that it was his doing. She was no longer believed in anything, not even her own mind. Instead, all actuality, all truth and certainty, all reality, became just another delusion. She was confident that they both existed in yet another illusion, and death was the only escape back to the one true, real world.

The night of their anniversary, the night she jumped, would repeat over and over in Cobb's mind every time he closed his eyes. He could remember every minute detail about that night. The champagne glass he stepped on, the color of the curtains that led to the open window, and the look in his wife's eyes as she plummeted from the hotel window. The guilt overwhelmed him. She was the only thing he dreamed about, when he could dream, that is. It was his fault his wife had become unstable, his fault he might never see his kids again. So he took jobs, worked to get his mind off the woman that was always in the shadows. But all too soon, she began to show up even in the dreams of others. It was like he called her wherever he went. Mal haunted him, but he soon realized that this specter wasn't the woman he remembered. She was volatile, violent, and dangerous to himself, his team, and the operations they undertook. She knew what he knew and used it against him whenever possible. So he locked her away, took every precaution against his own subconscious, and yet, she still appeared. Mal made Dom into a danger as well, he just hadn't accepted it. He couldn't accept it, not until the Fisher job.

The Fisher job, and more specifically its architect, made Dom realize that he had to move on. He couldn't hang onto Mal or his guilt, not even in the back of his mind. He could – and would – always still love her, but he couldn't hold onto her. The process was slow and painful, but Dom Cobb owned up to his remorse and let Mal go. Finally, both of them would be at peace.

He wouldn't ever forget Mal; he couldn't ever forget Mal, at least not completely, but for Dominic Cobb, his wife would be only a lovely memory. From now until forever, she'd be just a dream.

_when the lights go out_

_we'll be safe and sound_

_we'll take control of the world_

_like it's all we have to hold_

_and we'll be a dream_


End file.
